The raid was set to last for approximately ten hours. It wasn't a long time, but it also wasn't a short time for these types of events. There were some events that would even run for more than a few weeks.

This was a moderately small event.

Even so, it was one that was packed with non-stop action.

"Whaaa--!"

"Go! Kill them!"

"Ahhh!!"

The crowd maintained the same energy as at the start. In fact, the fervor only seemed to have increased as the rankings were displayed for all to see.

-- [Team Score] --

[Dream Catcher] - 915 Points

[Swords of Fiest] - 885 Points

[Crow's Dance] - 876 Points

.

.

.

-- [Team Score] --

Since the start, the rankings remained the same. However, slowly but surely, the other teams were slowly starting to catch up with [Dream Catcher] who took a brief pose to rest.

"Go!!"

"Johnathan--! You're only a few points away! You can do it!"

Needless to say, the atmosphere was heated.

Especially when they could see all the highlights displayed on the large projections up above. Because the broadcast wasn't solely focused on one team, the attention would shift from team to team on multiple occasions.

Thanks to this, all that the spectators saw was endless action.

"Uwaaa!"

In one of the VIP boxes, several important figures sat, staring at individual projections. Unlike the crowd, they could glance at the individual performances of the teams.

"It seems like this is going to be a close race."

Chancellor Joffrey Stein said while massaging his thick beard. In front of him, the team [Sword of Fiest] was displayed.

In particular, a figure stood out as he cleared most of the monsters by himself. It was none other than Johnathan, the pride of the Montel Institute.

With a talent that Chancellor Joffrey Stein believed to surpass Aoife of Haven, he was confident in the chance of his Institute team reaching the first rank.

Especially since they followed a heliocentric system, a system solely centered towards one outstanding figure, which was devised to perfectly maximize Johnathen's qualities while covering for his inadequacies.

'...And people said Helio doesn't work.'

The Chancellor chuckled slightly.

The scene before him was the perfect proof that it worked.

"Well, the race is indeed close, but at the end of the day, it'll all boil down to which team gets to the boss monster first and kills it."

Interrupting his thoughts was Chancellor Merylin Parlias of Rodnea Academy. Leaning back on his chair, and observing her own projection, she brushed one of her golden locks behind her ear.

"Right now it's just a warm-up. What really matters at the end of the day is the boss monster. Whoever gets to it first will most likely win the competition."

".....I'm not so sure about that."

Chancellor Joffrey shook his head in disagreement.

"While it is true that the boss monster will provide the most points, you forgot something."

A smile spread across his lips.

It was a disgusting smile that made Merylin frown.

".....Monsters aren't the only way one can get points."

"Ah..."

Realization dawned on the Rodena Chancellor as her expression scrunched up.

Indeed, monsters weren't the only way to collect points. So long as a team defeated another, they'd be able to collect the other team's overall points. The final boss was indeed not the last hurdle.

Right after defeating the boss, the teams had to find an exit and escape the labyrinth before passing.

Before that, it was all fair and game.

"The boss is nice, but just because you can defeat doesn't mean you'll end up becoming the victor."

"....."

At that, Merylin leaned back without saying a single word. The same was true for the other Chancellors as they stared at the screens with somber expressions.

While everyone already knew this, to say it publically like this left a distaste in the mouths of many.

"...."

The only one who appeared unaffected by the entire conversation was Delilah who stared stared at her projection. In fact, she hadn't been listening at all.

Her current focus was on the groups displayed before her.

All of whom belonged to Haven.

So far, they were all performing excellently. However, if Delilah had to be honest, her attention was currently focused on two groups.

[Dream Catcher] and [Julien and his sidekicks]. For some reason, staring at the second group name, Delilah found herself raising her brow.

'....It rolls well on the tongue.'

Still, that wasn't the problem.

Staring at the ranking board, Delilah was unsure of what to make of things.

[Julien and his sidekicks] - 105 Points.

Lagging far behind the other Academies, they appeared to be on a leisurely stroll. At the corner of the projection, Delilah could see the viewer count.

At first, it had been at over 7 million viewers.

It was now at 800 thousand.

She could also see that the public sentiment was getting worse and worse as time went by. Not only the public but subtly glancing towards the other Chancellors, she could feel from their expressions that they also felt the same way as the public.

It was embarrassing.

However, Delilah didn't think the same. Staring at Julien from the screen, her gaze turned somewhat hazy.

'....Are they finally going to make a move?'

***

"A monster ahea--"

"Ahhh!"

Booom--!

A fire bloomed in the distance as a powerful shockwave swept the surroundings. My clothes and hair fluttered as a result of the aftershock of the explosion.

"Th--"

Booom--! Booom--!

Before I could say anything else, I was interrupted by more explosions as Kiera threw one spell after another.

"Fucking die! Die!"

Pursing my lips, I looked to the side and saw Josephine standing still with her mouth agape.

"Wow, she's totally lost it. Like, totally lost it."

"...."

"...."

Quietly, the others nodded alongside her comment.

Indeed, staring at Kiera, I could see that she had totally lost it. I couldn't blame her. While we weren't dead last, we weren't anywhere near the top.

For someone as competitive as her, this was torture.

"....Calm down."

Moving next to her, I pressed my hand against her shoulder.

"Wh-....!"

Her expression immediately changed. Her face morphed from angry to sad to then angry again to then happy.

"Fuck, shit!"

A curse inevitably slipped out of her mouth as her face twisted to show all sorts of emotions.

There were perks to being an Emotive Mage. One such perk was that I could manipulate Kiera's emotions to the point where she became confused about what she was feeling.

At the same time, it raised a thought in my mind.

'I wonder... if I develop my ability more, will I be able to stop them from experiencing a certain emotion?'

It was an interesting thought.

Currently, the best that I could do was insert a new emotion into the one that they were already experiencing. In doing so, I put them in a state of confusion which in turn, makes them forget about whatever emotion they were experiencing.

In this case, I mixed sadness and joy within Kiera's emotions, eventually toning down whatever anger she had.

While useful, it did take a bit of mana, and it didn't completely clear away her anger.

What I wanted to know was whether I could directly remove an emotion from their mind for a brief moment of time.

Fear, anger, sadness... If I could stop someone from experiencing such emotion for a brief moment, during critical moments, then it would prove to be an extremely useful skill.

Even better, seal all my emotions for a brief moment of time.

"Alright, stop. You can take your hand off of me."

Looking at Kiera, and seeing that she had calmed down, I removed my hand from her shoulder.

As I did, I noticed the others look at me with impressed looks.

Especially Josephine who raised her thumbs up.

"As expected of our team leader. You are useful after all."

"....."

Pretending to not have heard her words, I shifted my attention back toward the tunnels.

Closing my eyes, I extended the threads forward. The mana inside of my body started to drain at a faster speed as they extended. However, I continued to do so.

I wasn't doing this without reason.

Along the way, I'd be able to sense the monsters that were ahead. With that, we could prepare for the incoming monsters which would put us at an advantage.

'There's a total of ten...'

"Hm?"

I suddenly paused.

I sensed something else.

"Cadets?"

I blinked my eyes and turned my head. All of a sudden, everyone's eyes were fixed on me. Especially Kiera's. They seemed to be salivating.

.....If that was even possible.

"A group?"

"Yes."

"....Then?"

"They seem to be fighting monsters ahead. I'm not sure how many."

"Ho."

Kiera's fingers twitched. Raising her head, she looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, 'We're killing them, right?'

Well, killing is a bit...

"Are we?"

".....I guess so."

While we were indeed going at our own pace, we did need points.

I didn't see why not.

Thus.

"They're up ahead."

"Good, let's go."

Thankfully, Kiera didn't rush by herself and waited for us to come. Retrieving the thread, I led them toward where I had last sensed the group.

Tracing my memories, I hurried my footsteps while the others followed behind me. I wasn't worried about any of us losing sight of each other as I had one of my threads circle everyone's ankles.

Of course, it was with their permission.

As tiny as the threads were, they weren't hard to detect if they were near.

I hadn't yet reached a level where I could do that.

"....It's near here."

Coming to a stop, I brought my finger over my mouth. We were just by the corner, and with a turn, we'd be able to see the other cadets.

'If my estimates are correct, they should be fighting monsters.'

And as expected...

Clank!

In the distance, we could hear the loud sound of metal clashing. Kiera's expression lit up at the sound.

Turning to look at me, I nodded my head and she immediately rushed forward.

A magic circle had already formed in her hand as her feet slid across the ground and she brought her hand forward.

"Die you fu-uh?"

The moment she turned the corner, her expression faltered and her circle shattered.

Noticing her expression, I instantly had a bad feeling and rushed to turn the tunnel.

"Oh, god."

"What...?"

"Ah!"

The expression of everyone present changed drastically. Perhaps because I somewhat expected for this to happen, my expression didn't change.

"....."

Standing over the corpses of several cadets was a single hooded figure. In his grasp was a cadet who flung his arms widely.

In his last moments, our gazes met.

His expression seemed to say, 'Help', but...

Crack

His neck snapped before we could do anything.

Tik.

At the same time, the small recording device floating next to us fell on the floor, and the figure turned its head, its hollow gaze focusing on us.

My body tensed under its gaze.

The same was true for the others as they got into combat positions.

"....."

In the tense silence that suddenly overtook our surroundings, his gaze remained firmly locked on me.

I didn't flinch and stared back.

At that moment, I realized something.

'He knows me.'

No, Julien.